All three had access to Nixon; all three wound up serving prison terms for crimes related to the Watergate cover-up.

Their movies, which had been collected by the National Archives and the Watergate special prosecutor's office, are now available for public viewing.

Our Nixon director Penny Lane said her archival film, which also includes contemporary news reports and interviews, allows people to see how events unfolded, unfiltered by any point of view.

"It's a film about these three characters who had these home movies," Lane said at a weekend screening of the documentary in Washington, D.C.

Lane's film covers aspects of the Nixon presidency beyond Watergate, including the trip to China, protests over the Vietnam War, and his 1972 landslide re-election win over George McGovern.

It also provides behind the scenes looks at other Nixon events: A trip to the Vatican to meet the pope, the wedding of his daughter Tricia, the president in the Oval Office silently watching Apollo 11 astronauts walk on the moon.

The home movies of Haldeman, Ehrlichman, and Chapin also capture glimpses of people who would come to play their own roles in history.

In a clip from the 1969 inauguration, Nixon is seen standing in front of then-Rep. Gerald Ford, R-Mich., who would replace him as president after a turbulent five-and-a-half years.

Future presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush are also seen in the film.

Also spotted in Our Nixon: Then-Michigan Gov. George Romney, father of future presidential nominee Mitt Romney; future presidential nominee and Secretary of State John Kerry, speaking at a Vietnam War protest; Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg; and Nixon aide and future commentator and presidential candidate Pat Buchanan.

The famous Watergate tapes also play a major role in Our Nixon. Nixon can be heard criticizing a new television sitcom (apparentlyAll In The Family, which he said glorified homosexuality). Another audio clip features Nixon praising one of his own speeches.

There's even a tape of Nixon discussing the taping system, urging aides not to talk about it.

"Mum's the word," Nixon says.

Haldeman chimes in: "Just don't tell anybody you've got it."

That tape includes the voice of aide Alexander Butterfield, who would eventually reveal the existence of the White House taping system to the Senate Watergate committee.

In a director's statement on the film's website, Lane said: "Going back to primary sources is the best way to experience history as it was lived in the present, with all its confusion about what is happening, why it is happening and why it's significant. "

Also said Lane:

"Our Nixon is not an attempt to write a tidied-up history with only one ultimate meaning, nor an attempt to convince you of my own point of view. Rather, the film asks you to sift through the fragments of history in order to reach your own conclusions."